Tetsuya Naito: I Wanted To See Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Final Moments With My Own Eyes

Tetsuya Naito was one of many surprises and appearances for the retirement ceremony of Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20.

Naito left NJPW in May 2024 and has been a freelancer ever since, but greeted Tanahashi in the ring after a long entrance.

“I once gave up on that dream and scheduled a fight overseas. I thought, ‘Now I’ll never be able to see the Dome,’ but I’m still an active player, so I thought I had chosen my own path…I guess this is also some kind of Destino,” Naito told Tokyo Sports, revealing that he and BUSHI were scheduled to compete in the UK on January 4th, but the date was changed.

“I joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling because I admired Hiroshi Tanahashi, and I saw his debut match (October 1999) live. That’s why I wanted to see his retirement match with my own eyes, and so I came to the Tokyo Dome. It’s true that I left the organization, so maybe I didn’t need to come. But I guess that’s how special Tanahashi was to me as a wrestler. I wanted to see his final moments with my own eyes. I don’t particularly want him to come back or anything like that. I just feel like, ‘You haven’t had your last singles match with me yet, have you?'” he said with a laugh.

Fans can find Fightful’s coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 by clicking here. Check out the post-show podcast for a full review here.